500 Hungry Children - A Lasting Solution

Kevin is 12 years old and attends Nazacota Puento School in the community of San Pedro in Cotacachi, Ecuador. He is the oldest child in his family, and lives with his mother, 3 younger siblings, his grandparents, and two elderly uncles. Kevin’s mother, Maria, is the sole breadwinner for her family, making handicrafts to sell and planting corn for food in a small field located near her house. Though she works very hard, she has had difficulty providing basic necessities for the large family that is dependent on her.

Before Feed The World became involved with his school, Kevin had a meager diet lacking in nutrients. He was not able to eat breakfast before school, and his academic performance was suffering. At 11 years old, Kevin was only 4’2” tall and weighed 69 pounds – a height and weight well below the average of 4’6” and 77 pounds. Kevin is not alone – he attends this school with 147 other children aged 3 to 16 years old – and over 60% of them suffer from similar signs of malnutrition.

How Your Donation is Helping

Thanks to the generous support of Feed The World donors in conjunction with our Global Giving Campaign, Kevin and his classmates have been able to participate in a school gardening program at Nazacota Puento School. This program is based on the Feed The World Model, which educates participants in Nutrition and Hygiene, Sequential Gardens, Field Crops, Small Livestock, and Economic Independence. Through participation in this program, students and their families learn how to take care of themselves nutritionally and financially, and gain important skills that will help them for the rest of their lives.

Nutrition and Hygiene Classes

The Feed the World staff has been teaching the students and their families important hygiene practices to keep themselves free from diseases common to their location. They have also taught the students about nutrition, helping them to understand the health benefits of the variety of vegetables they are growing in their school gardens. For example, the children have learned that spinach is high in iron, which helps to carry the oxygen through their blood so they can run faster and be stronger.

Sequential Gardens

For the first time ever, Kevin and his classmates have had the opportunity to learn how to prepare soil for planting, growing, and harvesting nutritious vegetables in school and home gardens. The school staff has been taught how to incorporate these vegetables into the lunch program, giving the children a much improved diet, packed with important nutrients and vitamins. Better food helps the student's cognitive abilities so they can perform well in school and gain the education critical to a successful future.

Parents are encouraged to participate with their students in this program, and Kevin’s family has helped to plant vegetables and build structures at the school. In fact, many of the families are so excited about what they have learned that they have begun planting gardens at home as well. Feed The World technicians help by providing seeds and answering questions they have about the challenges of growing gardens for the first time. The families are encouraged to teach their neighbors and friends, benefitting the entire community of San Pedro.

Field Crops, Small Livestock, & Economic Independence

With the help of Feed the World staff, the students and their families have begun preparations for raising cuyes (guinea pigs), a common source of animal protein in their culture. They have built housing structures for the animals, and have planted alfalfa on the school property to use for animal feed. By learning to raise small animals such as guinea pigs, the children and their families are taught another great way to improve their diets and develop skills for future employment opportunities. These important skills will help them today, tomorrow, and for the rest of their lives. They now have the education and mentoring to become self-reliant and never face hunger again.

A Huge Thank You!

There is no better way to understand the impact of your donations than to hear from the children themselves. Here is a letter that Kevin wrote to our Feed The World donors with his own pen (see attached photo):

My name is Kevin, my mother´s name is Ana Maria. I have three siblings, Yarina, Emily and Kilan. I study in Nazacota Puento School.  I am happy with the help of the foundation SRA [Feed The World], that is implementing the school gardens and the housing for guinea pigs. This will help to improve the nutrition of all my classmates and improve our school performance. I hope that you continue to help us to grow healthy and learn better. ~ Thank you, Kevin

Feed The World thanks you for partnering with us to help teach self-reliance to these promising students. With a school program focused on sustainable farming, the children at Nazacota Puento School in Cotacachi Ecuador are learning how to provide proper nutrition for themselves and their families today and in the future. Thank you for helping us to make a lasting impact for the families of rural Ecuador and throughout the world.